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Have Democrats Lost Their Confidence?

I’m speaking generically of course but I can’t help but think that may be the case. When a blogger posts an edited version of speech given by Shirley Sherrod and the White House reacts by firing her without even looking for context and more information, it shows a weakness in the chain.

We see several things happening here. First of all, blogger has altered video and posts it. Fox News runs with it as they are wont to do without fact-checking it in the least after the video goes viral. So, campers, if you don’t think your blog is being read, think again. We can go back to that political bloggers have a responsibility and long-term, we will see where this goes because it will have an impact one way or another. Sherrod says she may sue Andrew Bretbart as well.

The White House reacts. Pres. Barack Obama gave impassioned speeches during his campaign regarding race relations. It would be disingenuous to say things have changed. They have not and with the Sherrod controversy where a woman’s words were twisted, used to perpetuate a fabricated reverse racism for political gain, we see what we knew was true anyway. Her firing proved that there is still much to do when it comes to not only civil rights, but to media accountability and to strong leadership that doesn’t back down and at least has their facts straight.

With user-generated media that, there is no doubt that we live in a different time now that we did even 10 years ago. Rumors, news and even fabricated hit jobs travel quickly.

Yet there is more to this story than meets the eye.

The situation also got me to thinking about democrats in our state as well. We saw Rep. John Tanner take a leadership role this week and calling out members of the GOP for playing partisan politics with some rather impressive controlled rage, and a good speechwriter hit some great nuances for the retiring congressman. There was confidence there but he will be gone soon. Gov. Phil Bredesen commuted Gail Owens’ death sentence to life-in-prison last week and scolded members of the GOP for taking a few days in the state of the Grand Canyon. Bredesen is also headed out the door.

The question remains, where is the confidence in those who aren’t looking to get out of Congress and the Governor’s Mansion?

Yet we don’t see democrats calling out their colleagues on the Arizona law, where GOP members are going to hand deliver a letter of support to that state’s leadership later this month. Is our tax money paying for this trip? (Hey paid media, get on this and find out.) Is our state really getting involved in this? And why aren’t prominent democrats standing up? Why isn’t our house and senate leadership saying no to this or at least sending our statements on why we SHOULD NOT support any sort of legislation that promotes racial profiling?

White folks don’t get racially profiled, my friends.

Where is the confidence to set the ship straight? In looking at campaigns for Jeff Yarbro and Ben Leming, we see a confidence and we all see a level of excitement in those races. Incumbent democrats should study what those two men are doing right now. Voters in those districts seem very engaged and involved whether they are for, or against, those candidates.

Democrats should, in my opinion, find that confidence where they take a stand on what is just and not follow the status quo because the status quo isn’t moving us forward.

They’ve lost more than that. Many have simply lost their balls, and most of them never had any to begin with.
Tanner’s new found courage will be short lived, that much I promise. It’s what his record shows us.

There is no poorer excuse for a Democrat than we find in Tennessee. Most of them are Socially Conservative and therefor detrimental to the freedom of the people.

I can see Real Dems losing their confidence. After all, that can happen when you stand by, day in and day out, watching the people who claim to be “Democrats” act like a bunch of Teabaggers.